Are you feeling overwhelmed by the task of conducting a content audit? You’re not alone! It’s a complex process, especially if you have a significant digital presence. However, with the proper knowledge and some elbow grease, you can ensure your content is up to par and optimized for SEO. This blog post will provide five tips to help you conduct a successful content audit.
1) Know your goals
When conducting a content audit, it is essential to have clear objectives. What is your desired outcome? Are you looking to optimize SEO? Increase web traffic? Increase engagement? Establishing clear goals will help keep you on track and focused throughout the process.
For SEO purposes, set a goal for specific keywords and phrases to target. Then, choose relevant words for the content you are auditing. Choosing relevant keywords will give you an idea of how your website performs regarding search engine ranking and optimization. Once you have identified the keywords you want to target, incorporate them into your content audit. Using your target keywords will optimize the content on your website for search engine ranking.
Finally, remember that goal setting should be flexible. Your goals may change as you go through the process, so make sure to be open to adjustments as necessary.
2) Do your research
Content Audits are beneficial for SEO as they provide an inventory of all the content on your website and help identify areas that need improvement or refinement. However, before starting a content audit, it is essential to do your research. Studying the content will help you better understand what information to look for and how to structure your audit.
Researching can include anything from researching competitors’ websites and content to assessing the current state of your website. A comprehensive analysis of your existing content can help you identify potential weaknesses, successes, and opportunities for improvement. Additionally, researching similar topics or websites can provide insight into how other businesses have approached the same content.
Research can also include tracking industry trends and insights. Keeping up with the latest trends in your industry can help you ensure that your content remains relevant and up-to-date. Additionally, understanding the keywords, your audience is searching for can help ensure that your content is optimized for search engine visibility. Finally, researching analytics can also help you better understand user behavior on your website, which can provide additional insight for your content audit.
Your research before a content audit helps you gain valuable insights to guide your audit process and help you create an effective strategy. The data you collect during this step can inform your decisions regarding revising or updating existing content, creating new content, and optimizing your website’s performance.
3) Create a spreadsheet
Creating a spreadsheet is an essential part of conducting a successful content audit. The spreadsheet will help you organize and track all the relevant information you need to review your content marketing efforts.
- The spreadsheet should include columns for the following:
- Page Title – document the title of each page or piece of content
- URL – record the link for each page
- Last Update – make a note of when the content was last edited
- Category – divide content by different topics, categories, or keywords
- Type of Content – label what content it is (e.g., blog post, video, image, etc.)
- SEO/Keywords – make a note of any keywords associated with the content
- Traffic – measure the amount of traffic each piece of content is receiving
- CTA – document any call-to-action associated with the content
- Conversion Rate – track the percentage of visitors who complete a desired action
- Notes – jot down any additional notes or observations you may have
Making a spreadsheet will help you quickly identify which content is performing well and where to initiate improvements. In addition, having this data in one place will make it easy to assess the overall performance of your content marketing and make adjustments accordingly.
4) Check your analytics
When conducting a content audit, reviewing your current content’s performance is essential. Website analytics come in handy during this phase. By examining analytics from various sources, you can gain insights into how your content is performing and where you can improve. To check your website analytics for a content audit, you first need to set up tracking on all your pages. It would help if you used content marketing software to measure page views, engagement, and conversions.
After you gather data, then review it to identify areas of improvement. Look at each page’s performance and analyze how visitors interact with the content. Are they staying on the page for an extended period? Are they quickly leaving? Are they completing a conversion goal? These questions can help you determine what content you should keep, remove, or modify to make it more effective.
Once you have identified areas of improvement, you can create actionable items to ensure your content is meeting its goals. For example, if visitors are quickly leaving the page, consider making changes to keep them engaged, such as adding visuals or shortening the length of the content. If visitors need to complete the desired action on the page, consider changing the call-to-action or adding additional elements that may prompt visitors to take action.
Analytics provide invaluable insight into how your content is consumed and provide direction for improvement. To successfully conduct a content audit, it’s essential to review your website analytics and make necessary changes.
5) Revise and update
The final step of a content audit is to revise and update the existing content. To ensure that your content marketing efforts remain effective, you must review your audit results and identify what needs to be changed or improved. First, evaluate the accuracy and relevance of your published content. Make sure it’s up-to-date with the latest trends and information. Additionally, consider your content’s placement and ensure it’s in the best possible position to reach your target audience. Lastly, consider how frequently you publish content and whether more frequent posting would benefit your overall content marketing strategy. After completing these revisions and updates, you will have a more organized and optimized content library to help you reach your goals.
Check out this helpful infographic from Ahrefs demonstrating the reach of a content audit.
